Britain’s Daily Mail agreed on Wednesday to pay Melania Trump an undisclosed sum and issue an apology after it published an article saying the U. S. First Lady had offered « services beyond simply modeling » in her former job.
President Donald Trump’s wife, 46, had sued the publisher of the Daily Mail in Britain and also filed a $150 million (120 million pound) lawsuit against it in New York, claiming the article had cost her millions of dollars in potential business.
A person familiar with the situation said the settlement was worth less than $3 million, including legal costs and damages.
The Daily Mail, which runs what it calls the world’s largest English-language newspaper website, apologized for the article on Wednesday and issued a retraction on its home page.
« An article on 20th August 2016 about Melania Trump… questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modeling, » publisher Associated Newspapers said.
« We accept that these allegations about Mrs Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them …. we have agreed to pay her damages and costs. »
At the High Court in London, Trump’s lawyer said the article, headlined « Racy photos and troubling questions about his wife’s past that could derail Trump », was published as a two-page spread and accompanied by an old photo of Melania Trump standing naked with her front against a wall but looking back at the camera.
« Readers of the newspaper that day could not fail to miss the article », John Kelly told the court. « The article included false and defamatory claims about the claimant which questioned the nature of her work as a professional model.
« The suggestion that such allegations even merit investigation is deeply offensive and has caused a great deal of upset and distress to the claimant, » he said.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Michael Holden and Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison)
